A few points of information from our friends at the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program for the upcoming flu season.

• The single best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated each year. Everyone 6 months and older should get vaccinated.
• CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses.
• While there are many different flu viruses, a flu vaccine protects against the viruses that research suggests will be most common.
• Flu vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors’ visits, and missed work and school due to flu, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations.
• Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine as soon as the current season’s vaccines are available.
• Vaccination of high risk persons is especially important to decrease their risk of severe flu illness.
• Vaccination are important for people at high risk of serious flu complications include young children, pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease and people 65 years and older.
• Vaccination also is important for health care workers, and other people who live with or care for high risk people to keep from spreading flu to them.
• Children younger than 6 months are at high risk of serious flu illness, but are too young to be vaccinated. People who care for infants should be vaccinated instead.
Take everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of germs.

A few points of information from our friends at the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program for the upcoming flu season.

• The single best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated each year. Everyone 6 months and older should get vaccinated.
• CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses.
• While there are many different flu viruses, a flu vaccine protects against the viruses that research suggests will be most common.
• Flu vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors’ visits, and missed work and school due to flu, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations.
• Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine as soon as the current season’s vaccines are available.
• Vaccination of high risk persons is especially important to decrease their risk of severe flu illness.
• Vaccination are important for people at high risk of serious flu complications include young children, pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease and people 65 years and older.
• Vaccination also is important for health care workers, and other people who live with or care for high risk people to keep from spreading flu to them.
• Children younger than 6 months are at high risk of serious flu illness, but are too young to be vaccinated. People who care for infants should be vaccinated instead.
Take everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of germs.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them.
• If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand-sanitizers.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.

Donald Trump on Monday upped his call for action against radical Islam in an effort to reclaim the offensive on national security, proposing an ideological test to keep would-be immigrants with radical views out of the US.

The proposal was one of several Trump outlined in an Ohio speech laying out his vision for fighting Islamic extremism. In doing so, he sought to turn the tables on critics who are depicting him as unfit to serve as commander in chief and accused Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton of lacking the “mental and physical stamina” to fight ISIS.

Trump’s speech coincided with sagging poll numbers in key swing states, as the Republican nominee has lurched from one controversy to the next. Top Republicans have called on Trump to straighten out his flailing campaign.

Painting a grim picture of a world under attack and a homeland threatened by terrorism, Trump argued only he could be trusted to confront the present dangers. He characterized the fight as an ideological struggle on par with that of the Cold War that demands a sweeping rethink of US policies at home and abroad.